Personal Experience
by toria55
Summary: Burton observes Nick with Lulu


Disclaimer - The Guardian and its characters belong to David Hollander and CBS Broadcasting Company. This story is not intended to infringe on the copyrights of the original creators. This story is written for entertainment purposes only and is not intended for profit in any way.  
  
Authors Notes: This story was originally written before season one ended.  
  
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Burton Fallin had never been to the office of Legal Services of Pittsburgh. He never had a desire to go there. He preferred to think of it as a nonexistent. But, today he had go there. At the last minute he realized he forgot to get his son Nicholas' signature on some documents that had to be filed before the court closed for the day. Circumstances were such that it was easier for him to go to Nicholas, then to wait for Nicholas to return to the office of Fallin & Associates.  
  
When Burton got off the elevator at LSoP the first thing he noticed was that there was no reception area. Off to the side, a women with curly red hair called out to him, "Can I help you?"  
  
"Yes, I'm here to see Nicholas Fallin." Burton answered her. "Is he expecting you?"   
  
"Yes, he is." Damn it Nicholas where are you? I don't have time for this, Burton thought to himself.   
  
"One minute, please." Just as the red head started to get up to go get Nicholas, he came out from behind a closed door.   
  
"Hi dad." Nicholas quickly ushered his father into another room. "We can go in here."   
  
Nicholas was not about to let his father see the little four by four area that he called his office. Instead he took him into the conference room. The conference room wasn't much, but it was a lot nicer than the space he called his office.   
  
While Nicholas signed the papers, Burton looked around at the cluttered room. "They don't have much storage room around here." Nicholas said, trying to justify the boxes of files that were stacked around the room. "They use whatever space they can find."   
  
"I see that." Burton answered.   
  
Nicholas signed the half dozen places where his signature was needed and then handed the documents back to his father. They were standing at the door talking when Lula walked in.   
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize anyone was in here." Then noticing who Nicholas' visitor was. She said, "How are you Mr. Fallin?"  
  
"Fine, fine." Burton answered her.  
  
"What brings you here?" Lulu asked.   
  
"Well, I just had some papers for Nicholas to sign."   
  
"So what do you think of our offices?" She asked him and then added, "Not quite as nice as Fallin & Associates."   
  
"No, no not quite, but I gather its enough to get the job done here." Burton answered her. Then he noticed her left hand and commented. "Is that a wedding ring I see there?"  
  
Lulu smiled and held out her hand so that he had a better look at the ring. "Yes it is. I got married a few months ago. My husband is a medical student."   
  
"Well, congratulations. I hope you have a long and happy marriage." Burton told her.   
  
"Thank you." Lulu smiled back at him.  
  
Just then James Mooney, who was running late for an appointment, opened the conference room door causing Lulu to fall into Nicholas. James apologized and asked her if she was okay.   
  
"I'm fine." She told him without taking her eyes off of Nicholas.   
  
When the door was pushed opened it struck Lulu in the back, causing her to lose her balance and fall into Nicholas. Her left hand landed on his chest and her right grabbed on to his left arm for support. Out of the instinct of seeing another person falling towards him, Nicholas reached out to catch Lulu; preventing her from falling. A perfectly natural reaction, he thought. The only problem was that Lulu allowed her hand to rest against Nicholas' chest and hold his arm long after she had regained her balance. And Nicholas wasn't actually holding her arms so much as caressing the softness of her skin. But it was the eye contact that caught Burton's attention.  
  
"Are you sure your okay?" James asked, bringing Lulu out of the daze that she found herself in.   
  
Realizing what she was doing and noticing that Burton was watching them, Lulu quickly pulled away. "Yea, I'm fine James," she then walked over and pulled out the files that she had come in for. "Here they are," she said as she handed the files to James.   
  
"Great, thanks," he said taking the files from her. "I'm already late, I gotta go." As fast as he came in, James was gone.   
  
"Well, I have to go too." Lulu informed the two remaining occupants of the room. She turned to Burton and said, "Nice seeing again, Mr. Fallin." She lifted her hand and gave a small wave in Nicholas' direction, " Bye, Nick." She left closing the door behind her.   
  
Nicholas stood where he was and watched her leave. He didn't notice that his father was staring at him.  
  
"Nicholas, you need to quit this job." Burton told him.  
  
"What?" Nicholas responded, completely astounded that his father would say something like that.  
  
Pointing at the closed door, Burton told his son, "You need to get as far away from that women as you can!"  
  
As he normally did under these circumstances, Nicholas' tone of voice became very defensive. "What are you talking about?" Nicholas demanded.   
  
"She married Nicholas," Burton stated, thinking that would be enough for Nicholas to understand what he was getting at.  
  
"What are you trying to imply?" Nicholas yelled at his father.  
  
"Listen son, I know women like her, they may have an affair with you, but in the end they always go back to their husbands with stories about how sorry they were and begging his forgiveness." Burton realized that Nicholas wasn't listening to his advice, "She's not going to leave him, for you!" Burton told him emphatically.  
  
"Oh yea," Nicholas answered back to his father, "you would know wouldn't you!" The tone in his voice was pure hatred. He glared at his father waiting for a reply and then sarcastically repeated himself, "Yea, you would know from personal experience, wouldn't you?" Once again Nicholas was able to bring the conversation with his father to an abrupt halt.  
  
Burton just looked at him and after letting out a deep sigh, he answered his son, "Yes Nicholas, I know from personal experience." There was nothing more to say except, "I'll see you later, son." And then Burton walked out leaving Nicholas alone in the conference room.  
  
Nicholas remained in the room, alone and angry at himself for talking to his father like he did. He knew he didn't deserve being talked to that way. He couldn't believe that from something so insignificant his father was able to read his feelings for Lulu. He promised himself that in the morning, he would apologize to him.  
  
Burton Fallin was glad that he didn't have to wait for the elevator out of the LSoP office. The doors were opening just as he got there. He was also grateful that he was the only one that got on. The ride down to the first floor gave him a chance to think about the answer he wanted to give Nicholas, just now. "Yes son, I know from personal experience. No matter how many men she had, she always came back to me. And no matter how many times she promised me it was the last time, I always took her back. After all, she was my wife, and I loved her." 


End file.
